SPRAY HEAD FOR COOLING LUBRICATION OF A DIE OF A FORMING MACHINE

Abstract

A spray head for the cooling lubrication of a lower die and/or an upper die of a forming machine is disclosed. The spray head is able to be introduced between two working strokes into a working chamber between the lower die and the upper die. The spray head has at least two individually controllable nozzles for the cooling lubrication of different places of a die surface of the lower die and/or the upper die. The spray head also has a thermal imaging camera for recording a thermal image of the lower die and/or the upper die. A forming machine has a cooling device comprising an aforementioned spray head.

Claims

1.-10. (canceled)

11. A cooling device, comprising: a spray head (SK) for cooling lubrication of a lower die (UG) and/or an upper die (OG) of a forming machine (UM), wherein the spray head (SK) is adapted to be introduced between two working strokes into a working chamber (AR) between the lower die (UG) and the upper die (OG), wherein the spray head (SK) comprises at least two individually controllable nozzles (DU, DO) for the cooling lubrication of different places of a die surface of the lower die (UG) and/or the upper die (OG), and wherein the spray head (SK) comprises a thermal imaging camera (KU, KO) for recording a thermal image of the lower die (UG) and/or the upper die (OG); and a control unit (KE) for determining individual spraying times of the individually controllable nozzles as a function of the thermal image, wherein the control unit (KE) comprises a memory for storing thermal images over a plurality of cycles of the forming machine (UM) and wherein the control unit (KE) is configured to continuous monitor operation of the forming machine (UM) over the plurality of cycles based on the stored thermal images and to detect defects before the lower die (UG) and/or an upper die (OG) is no longer usable.

12. The cooling device according to patent claim 11, wherein the individually controllable nozzles (DU, DO) are formed as a one-piece assembly.

13. The cooling device according to patent claim 11, wherein the individually controllable nozzles (DU, DO) and supply channels, via which a cooling fluid or a cooling fluid mixture can be supplied to the nozzles (DU, DO), are formed as a one-piece assembly.

14. The cooling device according to patent claim 11, wherein the individually controllable nozzles (DU, DO), supply channels via which a cooling fluid or a cooling fluid mixture can be supplied to the nozzles, and a receptacle for the thermal imaging camera (KU, KO) are formed as a one-piece assembly.

15. The cooling device according to claim 12, wherein the one-piece assembly is manufactured by 3D printing.

16. A forming machine (UM), comprising: the cooling device according to claim 11; the lower die (UG); and the upper die (OG).

17. A forming method, comprising: cyclically pressing a workpiece between a lower die (UG) and an upper die (OG) of a forming machine (UM); ejecting the workpiece from the forming machine (UM); introducing a spray head (SK) with at least two individually controllable nozzles (DU, DO) for cooling lubrication of different places of a die surface of the lower die (UG) and/or of the upper die (OG) and with a thermal imaging camera (KU, KO) for recording a thermal image of the lower die (UG) and/or of the upper die (OG) into a working chamber (AR) between the lower die (UG) and the upper die (OG); recording a thermal image of the lower die (UG) and/or the upper die (OG); determining individual spraying times of the individually controllable nozzles (DU, DO) based on the thermal image; cool-lubricating places of the die surface of the lower die (UG) and/or the upper die (OG) with the individually controllable nozzles (DU, DO) for the individually determined spraying times; loading a next workpiece into the forming machine (UM); and storing thermal images over a plurality of cycles of the forming machine (UM); continuous monitoring operation of the forming machine (UM) over the plurality of cycles based on the stored thermal images; and detecting defects before the lower die (UG) and/or an upper die (OG) is no longer usable.

18. The forming method according to patent claim 17, wherein the individual spraying times are determined based on maximum values of the thermal image in such a manner that a uniform surface temperature of the lower die (UG) and/or upper die (OG) is obtained after cooling lubrication.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] FIG. 1 shows a forming machine with a spray head.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] FIG. 1 shows a forming machine with a lower die UG and an upper die OG, between which a workpiece can be pressed. A spray head SK is inserted into the open working chamber AR of the forming machine UM. The spray head has a plurality of nozzles DU for the cooling lubrication of the surface of the lower die UG and a plurality of nozzles DO for cooling the upper die OG. The nozzles UG and OG can each be controlled individually.

[0020] In the exemplary embodiment shown, the spray head SK further has two thermal imaging cameras KU and KO, with which thermal images of the surface of the lower die UG and the upper die OG, as the case may be, can be recorded.

[0021] In the spray head shown in FIG. 1, the individually controllable nozzles DU and DO, supply channels (not shown), via which a cooling fluid or a cooling fluid mixture can be supplied to the nozzles, and the receptacles for the thermal imaging cameras (KU, KO) are formed as a one-piece assembly. Thereby, the one-piece assembly was manufactured using a 3D printing process.

[0022] The cooling device has a control unit KE, with which individual spraying times for the individually controllable nozzles DU and DO can be determined based on the spraying times determined by means of the thermal imaging camera KU and the thermal imaging camera KO. In this manner, particularly hot places of the lower die and/or the upper die can be cooled for longer than places subject to less thermal stress, thus extending the service life of the dies.

[0023] The control unit can also have a memory in which the thermal images and/or the calculated spray times can be stored over a plurality of working cycles of the forming machine. This can make it possible to detect deviations at an early stage and reduce downtimes of the forming machine.